CMC says 16 'at risk' over files

ABOUT 16 people who put their lives on the line to provide evidence during the landmark Fitzgerald inquiry into corruption in Queensland may have been put at risk by the bungled release of sensitive files from the investigation.

Crime and Misconduct Commission assistant commissioner Kathleen Florian has told a parliamentary probe into the file release scandal that the CMC had conducted an urgent inquiry into whether anyone was put at risk after the bungle came to light this month.

Ms Florian told the Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee a team of officers assessed the documents to determine whether the informants or "witness protectees" mentioned were still alive and the nature of the information they provided.

She said the CMC had identified 510 sensitive documents which had, or may have, been accessed since they were wrongly reclassified for public release in February last year.

Of those, about 200 were found to have definitely been viewed and the inquiry heard about 13 living people were found to have been put at low to moderate risk as a result.

A further 281 documents were found to have possibly been accessed and a further three people were found to be at low risk as a result.

Ms Florian said those affected had told the CMC they wanted the laws rushed through Parliament this month to stop the publication of the documents to remain in force.

Her evidence came on the seventh day of hearings into the file bungle which has revealed the CMC found out about the mistake in May but failed to properly fix it, with some files still available in September 2012 and in March this year.

The inquiry has also heard that the online index at State Archives contained detailed information about the Fitzgerald Inquiry files, including the names of operations and their targets.

State Archivist Janet Prowse told the hearing anyone with "with basic web searching skills" would have been able to locate that information.

Other revelations include that an unrelated incident was reported to the PCMC on December last year which involved the wrongful release of information about a live CMC operation.

It has also been revealed that current acting CMC chair Warren Strange acted as chair during certain periods at the end of the last year without realising his authority to do so had lapsed.

CMC information management director Peter Duell yesterday told the inquiry he accepted it was his fault the files were released.

"I thought I did it with the best intentions," Mr Duell said. "There's no hiding from the fact that it was my signatures on those changes that bought this about."

Both outgoing CMC chair Ross Martin and acting chair Warren Strange have expressed dismay at the file release bungle.

Mr Martin last week told the inquiry he felt ultimately responsible and was saddened the reputation of the CMC had been tarnished.

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